Outdoor Ontario

Photography => Ontario Birds => Topic started by: denis on August 23, 2010, 08:27:10 PM

Title: cedar waxwings.
Post by: denis on August 23, 2010, 08:27:10 PM

a few waxwings,and a kingbird from pickering area last week.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4921985098_365ae2e27b_b.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4921389613_185e627018_b.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4921985534_df368170f1_b.jpg)

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Post by: Leslie on August 24, 2010, 10:11:10 AM

These are great, Denis.
I'm guessing the waxwings are juveniles (I don' see any "wax" on the wings).
Do you know what berries these birds are sitting in?

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Post by: denis on August 24, 2010, 07:32:17 PM

thanks leslie.
i,m not knowledgeable to discern between juvies,and adults,especially in the first photo,so i,ll take your word on it.
no idea on the berries.all i know is they were gobbling them up. sorry.

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Post by: JW Mills on August 24, 2010, 09:09:46 PM

Nice shots Denis, sharp and good colour.
The kingbird really stands out.

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Post by: ravynne40 on August 24, 2010, 09:55:46 PM

Lovely pictures

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Post by: denis on August 25, 2010, 09:10:14 AM

thanks for the comments.

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Post by: Cody on August 25, 2010, 12:37:44 PM

Very nice Denis!

Title: re:cedar waxwings
Post by: ravynne40 on August 25, 2010, 04:26:30 PM

i have been out in the mornings, and in the evenings and have yet to see the cedar waxwings..we have similar berry bushes..but not a waxwing in sight

what is the best time to see them? do they have repetitive habits (ie: eating at the same time everyday?)

thanks
Irene

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Post by: Dr. John on August 26, 2010, 12:42:16 PM

Those look like elderberries to me - very good for pies, sauce, and preserves.

-John

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Post by: denis on August 26, 2010, 09:44:12 PM

thanks dr john,for the ID on these.
ravynne: i,ve seen them feeding at various times throughout the day,and at various locations.guess it helps if you have some in the area.

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Post by: ravynne40 on August 26, 2010, 10:25:02 PM

thanks Denis, there were tons last August in Marie Curtis Park..and i mean tons, and there are lots of berries still on the trees...ripe enough to get a cedar waxwing giddy :)
I will keep looking..you know what they say..patience ..
thanks :)

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Post by: lovetobird on August 27, 2010, 09:30:49 AM

Great set of images, both the waxwings are young, the first image the waxwing is in its first winter plumage and the second image the bird is in it's juvenile plumage. I see them feeding on these berries a lot here in Barrie.

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Post by: denis on August 27, 2010, 09:51:19 PM

thanks for the info on these.

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Post by: Leslie on August 28, 2010, 11:47:33 AM

--Condensed from The Best of the Raven, Friends of Algonquin Park
Cedar waxwings feed on fruit.  Fruit ripens at various times of the year and is plentiful when it does; thus, the birds must travel from fruit patch to fruit patch throughout the breeding season.  So there is no point in establishing breeding territories but there is a good reason to live all summer in a flock.  With birds, experience counts and the ideal mate has sufficient maturity to have at least survived a season, but without territories how is a bird to choose?  (Drumroll please.)  By the red markers on the wings.  (Research done in Algonquin Park .)
(Thanks, lovetobird--I didn't know about 1st winter & juvenile plumage.  And I love the clarity of these photos so I can go back & study.)
John, I think you're right about the elderberries (Sambucus canadensis, I think).  The berry clusters and the sharp-pointed, serrated leaves are consistent. (Shrubs of Ontario, ROM)  (Can't tell if the leaves are compound, though.)
What I really noticed about the plant is the red branches holding the berries.  Birds can see colour, & the red (plus the dark blue of the berries) would signal to them that the fruit is ripe.  (The plant "wants" birds to eat its fruit 'cause that's how the plant scatters its seeds far enough away from the parent to give the next generation a chance first to grow unshaded by the parent & second to expand to new territories.)[/i]

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Post by: denis on August 28, 2010, 12:12:08 PM

thanks for that great info leslie.
i also observed waxwings earlier this summer at various locaions,feedind over ponds,diving and swooping down for insects,along with kingbirds. dragonflies in particular,seemed high on the diet.probably in-between berry crops.

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Post by: Leslie on September 04, 2010, 11:49:58 AM

I read/heard somewhere that all birds feed their babies insects, in order to get the lipids (fat) to fuel growth.  I should also imagine there is more protein in insects than there is in fruit.  (Basic biology: birds & other animals get their energy from food, classified into three categories--carbohydrates (sugars, both mono- and di-saccharides and starches, longer carbon chains), protein (amino acid chains, contain nitrogen), and lipids (long carbon chains not soluble in water).  For food the unit of energy is the Calorie.  One gram of carbohydrate or protein yields 4 Calories of energy while 1 gram of lipid yields 9 Calories.  When lots of energy for fast growth or for migration is your goal, lipids are your choice.)

So it makes sense that fruit-eating birds (waxwings) would be seen chasing insects.